VIN: Albert Silvera's Lamborghini Countach LP400 chassis 1120056
History of chassis 1120056
Countach LP400 chassis 1120056 was the second of Albert Silvera’s custom Lamborghinis.
A Haitian diplomat and businessman, Silvera had close connections with Francois ‘Papa Doc’ Duvalier who was elected Haitian President in 1957. Silvera served as Haiti’s Director of Tourism and reputedly had ties to the American CIA.
During the 1960s, Silvera built the El Rancho Hotel & Casino on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince. Famed for its stunning architecture, the grand project had started as Silvera’s private residence.
Silvera also owned homes in Florida and Paris, a private plane, a yacht and several high end European cars, most of which were factory customs built to his personal specification. Among the first were a brace of Ferrari 275 GTBs and a Rolls-Royce Phantom V Limousine with special James Young coachwork.
In April 1972, Silvera received his first Lamborghini. It was a Miura SV/J, one of just four originally built. The car was personally handed over by Ferruccio Lamborghini as Silvera was considered a VIP customer.
Silvera collected his rather special Countach on January 27th 1975.
He had requested the car be finished in the Ferrari colour of Rosso Dino with brown Connolly Vaumol leather to match his 275 GTB/4. Other special equipment included Heuer Rally Master timing clocks mounted in the centre of the dash. The Heuer Rally Master set up comprised an eight-day Master Time clock and a Twelve Hour Monte Carlo stopwatch.
Perhaps most significantly, Silvera ordered 1120056 with an engine tuned by Dallara Automobili in Parma. The balanced and blueprinted four-litre V12 was equipped with high-lift camshafts, an increased compression ratio, bigger intake valves, enlarged carburettor main jets, free flow manifolds and a sports exhaust. Power went from 375bhp to around 440bhp.
The cost of all this special equipment meant Silvera paid a 40% premium over the standard list price.
Despite being in the depths of winter, Silvera and his wife, Gladys, drove the brand new Countach from Bologna to Paris.
In August 1975, the car was flown out to Miami.
Unlike Silvera’s Miura SV/J (chassis 4990), the Countach was kept at his home in Florida.
Silvera had no trouble running the tuned European-spec. LP400 in the USA; it was registered on Haitian plates and he also had diplomatic immunity.
Shortly after arriving on American soil, 1120056 was road-tested by Car and Driver magazine. It starred on the front cover of their December 1975 edition. The article recounted a tale of a pre-delivery autostrada run where it reputedly hit 202mph.
Albert Silvera only retained the LP400 until April 1976. It was sold to make way for a new Countach LP400 Speciale, one of just five built.
1120056 was purchased by Gary Doll from Cape Coral, Florida. Doll retained it until the 1980s, when the Lamborghini was acquired by a collector in New York.
A subsequent owner was noted motoring journalist, Winston Goodfellow, who kept the car from 1998 until 2001.
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Car and Driver - https://www.caranddriver.com/
